Posted on 11/19/2006 4:12:13 AM PST by MadIvan
A BAN on silicone breast implants in America has been reversed after 14 years by the regulatory Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after independent studies failed to find evidence that they caused tissue damage or cancer, writes Sarah Baxter.
Silicone gel implants are considered to have a more natural look and feel than the salt water “balloons” that replaced them. Cosmetic surgeons expect them to become the top choice for the 300,000 American women a year who opt for breast enlargement.
The FDA took silicone implants for cosmetic surgery off the market in 1992, after questions were raised about how frequently they ruptured in the body and whether leaking silicone could cause disease. They remained legal in Britain, prompting a trail of US women to cross the Atlantic for breast surgery.
“I’ve been in practice for 28 years and this is wonderful news,” said Elizabeth Morgan, a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon. “The old silicone implants were often defective and would leak. But they have made the shells better and thicker and they don’t release the gels like they once did.”
Hollywood enthusiasts for cosmetic surgery such as Demi Moore and Pamela Anderson have helped to boost the $540m (£286m) worldwide sales of breast implants. At $1,800 a pair, silicone implants are about twice the price of saline ones.
Professor Kefah Mokbel, a consultant breast surgeon at St George’s hospital in London, believes the lifting of the US ban will remove any remaining doubts that women had about the safety of breast implants, and that more British women will come forward for surgery.
Dr Daniel Schulz of the FDA said there was “reasonable assurance” that silicone implants were “safe and effective”. But the agency warned that the implants did not last a lifetime and that women who had them would probably need surgery again.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
There is going to be a lot of money spent on something that looks and feels like he!!.
And men too! Water balloon breasts suck. As Borat would say about silicone, "NICCCCEEEEEEEE!!!!!" and "HIGH FIVE!"
I once read that they were experimenting with peanut oil as a replacement. I think they nixed it after tests showed that excessive fondling turned the implants into chunky peanut butter.
Well if Demi and Pam are for them, then they must be OK.
Oh wait, it doesn't say they actually HAVE the implants...
They're worse than that. My twin sisters got them several years ago and one of them had to have hers removed because she got real sick from them. One of them was leaking silicon into her body. After she had them out, she got well again. I'm surprised they are letting them use silicon again. So far, the other twin hasn't had any problems with hers, but I sure wish she would get them out before she gets sick!
Meanwhile, how much did Corning pay out in lawsuit claims?
Wait, Pamela Anderson breasts are silicone? WTF they look so natural...
What manufacturer is going to be dumb enough to get back into the business? I can hear the squealing of the trial lawyers already.
who cares!
more booby for daddy!!
/sarcasm off
"Meanwhile, how much did Corning pay out in lawsuit claims?"
forget about how much the "vicitms" got....the govt.should make the lawyers pay back all the money as the scinece now proves the lawyers were wrong.....
even science says that lawyers are bottom feeding a-holes!!!!
Didn't the lawsuits drive Dow Corning into bakruptcy?
I wonder what they cost to make.
Or, Silicone?
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